Saturday, August 11, 2007

Greetings Readers!

Thanks very much for dropping by to have a look at my blog. This will be a multi-purpose page, including information on upcoming events I organize and direct, collection of stories and articles I have written, as well as my opinions on various and sundry topics.

Among other things, I direct the Breakers Marathon in Newport, Rhode Island, held in October, (http://www.breakersmarathon.org/) and the Eastern States 20 Mile, from Maine to Massachusetts along the New Hampshire Seacoast in late March (http://www.eaternstates20mile.com/)


The world of running and endurance sports has changed dramatically since I first got started running in the mid 1970s. The goal of almost every runner I knew then was to run the Boston Marathon; it was a difficult goal to achieve. The time to run for men was three hours or better, and a few years later that time was reduced to 2:50, given the huge numbers of runners who were willing and able to break three hours.

Not surprisingly, training knowledge was somewhat limited, and most that did exist was geared toward elite runners. After all, why not try to emulate the best? If Bill Rodgers ran more than 100 miles per week, than that must be the best way to train, right? Remarkably, many us employed that training methodology and remained in once piece; and in fact, thrived on it. During that era I ran dozens of marathons, including 27 in under three hours, with a personal best of 2:35:30 in the 1988 Boston Marathon.

Since then, like many others, I have slowed down quite a bit, but still try to set goals that will keep me motivated. Last summer I cycled across the USA, 3,700 miles in 50 days, from Astoria, Oregon to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. An account of that trip can be found at www.ultrarunning.com/baa

I am also the former publisher of UltraRunning Magazine (http://www.ultrarunning.com/), from June, 2000 until July, 2007. In additon, I am one of the original owners of the web site http://www.coolrunning.com/. I also published the book "A Step Beyond: A Definitive Guide to Ultrarunning (at http://www.ultrarunning.com/)

Thanks again for stopping by!

Don

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